Conventional ear clips normally take the form of separate pivotally attached stationary and movable jaw portions. The stationary jaw or body portion normally includes a separate leaf spring attached thereto by means of upwardly bent tabs and the like and which serves to engage terminal portions of the movable jaw or clip arm near its attachment to the body so as to resiliently urge the clip arm to a fully open and/or to a fully closed position. The metal stock material, such as phosphor-bronze, required for the formation of such separate leaf springs, is expensive and, furthermore, necessitates a separate and accordingly costly added assembly operation.
Accordingly, considerable effort has been made to produce ear clips which eliminate a separate spring member. U.S. Pat. No. 2,945,363 issued July 19, 1960, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,159,894 issued Dec. 8, 1964, are representative of the type constructions which such effort has produced. Such constructions incorporate a spring integrally struck from the movable jaw or clip arm. Although operative, such constructions necessarily enable very little control over the spring force produced thereby and necessarily exhibit sharp outwardly projecting portions in their closed position which could scratch or snag the clothing of the wearer. Accordingly, it would be desirable to produce an ear clip having an integral spring member which avoids these prior-art drawbacks and which additionally produces a resultant spring action wherein the opposed lobe contacting pads come together with the proper degree of resiliency so as to enhance the wearing comfort of earrings incorporating such clip structure.